| Purpose, Scope, and Method of Study: Political self-efficacy is the belief that one can influence political processes and is an indicator of society's political health. While political self-efficacy may change over time, education is a powerful influence. Emphasizing civic and general education functions, the community college provided a unique environment to study student political self-efficacy. This study investigated the effect of a required introductory American federal government class (American Government 101) on the overall, internal, and external political self-efficacy of students at a large, Midwestern community college. It also investigated student perspectives regarding this general education requirement. Survey research was conducted with a sample of students enrolled in American Government 101 in Spring 2016. As a follow-up, six survey completers were interviewed and four themes were identified during the qualitative analysis.;Findings and Conclusions: The analysis of quantitative data revealed significant change in overall and internal political self-efficacy. There was no significant change in external political self-efficacy. Qualitative analysis generated four themes: positive perspectives on general education, eye-opening information, engaging instruction and atmosphere, and personal democratic outcomes. Corroboration of data between data sources resulted in two conclusions. First, American Government 101 can positively influence political self-efficacy. Second, American Government 101 produces generally positive student outcomes at the community college level particularly with regard to democratic engagement. |
